Compressor and drive



Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. WOOD COMPRESSOR AND DRIVE Filed June 14, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Ham? 1 10000,

INVENTOR.

Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. WOO I 2,659,247

COMPRESSOR AND DRIVE Filed June 14, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

AM/f? J 10004 Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. woon 2,659,247

COMPRESSOR AND DRIVE Filed June 14, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 I is: 5/6,:

IN V EN TOR.

Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. WOOD 2,659,247

COMPRESSOR AND DRIVE Filed June 14, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 #004? J wow, IN VEN TOR.

477ve/IH Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. WOOD 2,659,247

COMPRESSOR AND' DRIVE Filed June 14, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 I N V EN TOR.

Nov. 17, 1953 H. J. WOOD COMPRESSOR AND DRIVE e Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 14, 1951 flaw-e J 40000,

IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 17, 1953 2,659,214? QQMBZQESS Ali!) DE VJE Homer "Wood, Sherman Oaks, Calif., assignor to-The Garrettifiorporation, Los Angelcs, Califl,

acomq ati nn tial ia n minees June 1 5 e rie! NQ- 23. 9

.7 .Glain s.

1 My present invention relates to a un-it for supplying air in controlled quantity and includes'a compressor and driving means thereforfwhich may be connected to a power sourcesuch as an internal combustion airplane engine so as to be dri en hereby- It is an object of the invention to provide for sem st r to a com ors m a r r te n havin a p we np sh which s d ve a a ab e s e he drivin system n ud n var ableerat ogee nes 9 t a m s simpl and c mp form. and mea re qe to .Q fiside en q q eo rel ne he .cegp retive in ionies of the va bl r tio t en m s i r se th t th .cofmr essor in dr e at a re Speeds 1.1 w ll eff t pred termine a r d l b the .cqmrresspr- .It is a fur her bjec c the i v n ion to 1 ride qmnressqr and dri uni havi a h s- ..s rema ning r t and 'esiqrid ar fil nee trammitsiensend RQP 'PQM iF E hy rau ie es for ac uat on an s rhbl of t se transmiss n .i. i an ab c c the int r-t er t p o i a mpres q d i e un t h vin fi st an m re t nable et p r nsmiss en threueh We h ow r irqm a va i le speed pow r sou i :Per i d *9 the compr ss impe ler els s 1 1 driver t re ati el const rtsree sp tha ai wil b de ivered een iriwusl necessarily 1 9 an eimrafi space such as a cabin or other enclosure.

.It is a fu ther o jec o th inv nti n to pr vide in this drive unit a variable ratio transmission with control means wherebyjtsdriving ratio is ensed in res ns to h eeinsp e e the en in is? hich he inpu seen r t u t i connected.

in th var bl at t an iss on t a simple hydraulic control which acts in response to chang e in velocity of a rotating part-from one range of rotational speed to another.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification whfireindetailed description is only emp without lim t n the 9M 0f the invention set-forth in the appended claims orlimiting therange of equivalents which maybe employed within the broad meaning of the ;cl a=irns.

" Referring to the drawings which are for illus- 'trative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is' a face view of the power input end of the compressor and drive;

Fig. 2 is a section taken line 2--2 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. 3 is a section taken as indicated by the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

as indicated by the Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the'linelP4 of Fig. 1;

' Fig. '5 is a large sectional view taken as indicated by the line 5.5 of Fig. 3, to show the end view of the centrifugal control valve;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 61-6 of Fig. 5 through the centrifugal control valve;

Fig. "7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing tolargerscale the planetary gearing of the second variable speed transmission shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken as indicated by theline8-8 of Fig-7; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional perspective viewof the pumps shown in Fig. v.4.

As shown in Fig. 2, the invention includes a compressor l0 comprising an impeller H arranged within a shell l2 having a diffuser ring [3 through which the air from the impeller II passes into theair passage IA of the shell I 2. The shell I2 is mounted on the front wall member l5 of a housing lfi'which includes a transmission case I?! cooperating to provide an enclosure for transmission parts of the compressor drive which will be described hereinafter.

The impeller .l I is fixed on the projecting por- .tion of a shaft 18 which extends through anopenring in the front wall member 1 5 of the housing 16. A splined end [9 of a power-receiving shaft '20 projects from the rear wall 2| of the trans.- missi n ase H as shewn K ss- 2 and h po e r c ivi shaf -20 i ada t d f r QQ BEF .tion to a power source 51 9. 3 ,5 a variable speed internal combustion engine of an aircraft. The power received 'by'the shaft 20 is carried to the shaft l8 which mounts the impeller I] through a first variable speed transmission 22, details of which are shown in Fig. 3 and a second variable speedtransmission 23, shown in Figs. 2, -7 and 8.

The first variable speed transmission 22 embodies automatic speed changing means acting in response to variation in speed of the power input shaft :20, and the second variable speed .transmission 23 is controlled by deviation, from a prescribed condition, of the air which passes through the supercharger to a space within the aircraft. For example, the second variable speed {transmission ,23 may be controlled either by air flow or pressure.

The first variable speed transmission 22 has high and lowratio gear trains H and -L arranged to be selectively driven by .the power receiving shaft 29. The high ratio gear train H comprises a gear '24 arranged coaxiallyof .the shaft 20 and a gear 25 which is fixed on a shaft-26 constituting -the=power input shaftof the second variable speed transmission 23. The low ratio gear train L of the transmission 23 comprises a gear 21 of smaller diameter than the gear 24 arranged to drive a gear 28 fixed on the shaft 26. The shaft 20 extends axially into and drives a hollow shaft or quill 29 one end 30 of which is rotatably supported by a bearing 3| supported by the front wall memher [5, and the other end 32 of which is supported by a ball bearing 33 carried by a bearing case 34 supported in the opening 35 of the transmission case ll. Within the hollow shaft 29, the shaft 20 has a shank 36 which supports a head 31 having external splines 38 arranged for driving engagement with internal splines 39 of the hollow shaft 29.

The gear 2'! is mounted on a cylindric wall 40 which is rotatably supported on the hollow shaft 29 by bearings 41 and 42. The bearings 41 and 42 are arranged on opposite sides of a collar 43 which is formed on the hollow shaft 29, and be- H tween the collar 43 and the cylindrical member 49 there is a one-way or free-wheeling clutch 44 through which the hollow shaft 29 will drive the low ratio gear 21 provided the gear 21 is not being otherwise driven at a speed of rotation greater than the speed of rotation of the hollow shaft 29. The high ratio gear 24 is mounted on a cylindrical wall 45 supported for rotation upon a portion of the cylindrical wall 40 by a bearing sleeve 46 carried by the cylindrical wall 40. A fluid actuated clutch 4'! is arranged to connect the high ratio gear 24 to the hollow shaft 29 so that the high ratio gear 24 will drive the shaft 26 through the gear 25. At this time the gear 28 on the shaft 26, which gear 28 is larger than the gear 25, will drive the gear 2'! at a rotative speed greater than the speed of the gear 24 and therefore greater than the speed of the hollow shaft 29, the one-way clutch 44 permitting the gear 21 to rotate upon the hollow shaft 29 at a speed higher than the speed of the shaft 29.

The clutch 41 comprises a shell 48 which is connected to the gear 24 so as to rotate there with. The shell 48 supports a plurality of annular friction plates 49 adapted to frictionally drive a plurality of annular friction plates 50, the inner edges of which engage peripheral projections i on a drum 52, which hub or drum 52 has a cylindrical wall 53 of reduced diameter surrounding and keyed to the portion of the hollow shaft 29 between the bearings 33 and 4|.

Within the rightward portion of the shell 48 of the clutch 41 there is an annular piston 54 having its peripheral portion 55 in sliding engagement with the cylindric wall 56 of the shell 48, and having its inner annular portion 5'! in sliding engagement with a portion of the cylindicall wall 53 of the hub 52. When fluid pressure is applied to the cylinder space 53, the piston 54 will be forced leftwardly and, through a dished ring 59, the movement of the piston 54 will be transmitted to the rightward friction plate 49, thereby forcing the plates 49 and 50 of the clutch 4'! into pressural engagement so that the plates 50 will frictionally drive the plates 49. The clutch 41 will now drive the gear 24, and the variable speed transmission 22 will be operating in its high-speed ratio.

It is a feature of the invention that means are provided for actuating the clutch only when the power receiving shaft 29 is rotating within a. lowspeed range. such as occurs when the airplane engine is idling. The result is, therefore, that when the speed of the shaft drops to idling range, the driving ratio of the transmission 22 75 is automatically increased from low-speed ratio to high-speed ratio 50 that the speed of the shaft 26 will not be materially reduced as the result of the decrease in the speed of the shaft 20. The front wall member [5, Fig. 3, has an oil chamber 69 at the inner end of the bearing 3 I, which communicates with the open end of the hollow shaft 29. Oil under pressure is fed through a duct 69a to the chamber 69, and this oil flows leftwardly within the interior of the hollow shaft 29. During idling rotation of the hollow shaft 29, oil under pressure flows outwardly from the interior of the hollow shaft 29 through a valve port 6| which communicates with an external groove 62 in the hollow shaft 29 and an opening 63 in the cylindrical wall 53 with the cylinder space 58, to apply fluid pressure leftwardly against the piston 54 to accomplish actuation of the clutch 4'1. There is a small bleed opening 64 in the wall of the cylinder space 58 through which oil may flow outwardly into the interior of the transmission case ll, but this orifice 64 is not capable of releasing the pressure in the cylinder space 58 when the valve port (ii is open.

Within the hollow shaft 29 there is a centrifugally operated valve device 55 which closes the port 6|, when the speed of rotation of the shaft 20 is increased above the idling range. The valve device 65 has a closure member 66 adapted to swing outwardly from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, and close the valve port 6i when a predetermined speed of rotation of the members 20 and 29 is reached, for example, 1500 to 1600 R. P. M. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the valve device 65 comprises a U-shaped frame 61 arranged to he slipped over a portion of the shank 36 of the shaft 20. This frame 6'! has a key-way 68 arranged circumferentially so as to receive a key 69 which projects inwardly from the wall of the hollow shaft 26 as shown in Fig. 3. The closure member 66 is of arcuate form and is swung on a pin 10 carried by one side ll of the frame 66, so as to extend across the opening 12 of the frame 61. Near the pin 10 the side ll of the frame 61 has a laterally projecting bracket 13 to which a leaf spring 14 is secured by means of a rivet 15 and an adjusting screw 16. The other end of the spring 14 has a loop I! formed thereon for engagement with a pin 18 which projects laterally from the closure member 66.

The spring 14 controls the outward movement of the closure member 66 as follows. When the engine which drives the shaft 20 is idling, the speed of rotation of the shaft 20 will be considerably below 1500 R. P. M. When the engine is speeded up to power delivery range, the velocity of the shaft 20 will be in the range of 2000 R. P. M., or greater, with the result that the closure member 66 will be swung out into a position to close the port 6!, shutting off the supply of oil under pressure to the cylinder space 58, whereupon oil pressure will bleed out through the orifice 64 and the clutch 41 will be released so that the gear 24 will not now be driven and the one-way clutch 44 will now act to drive the low ratio gear 21. The result of this is that the shaft 26 will not have its speed of rotation increased to the speed of rotation of the power receiving shaft 20 when such latter speed is increased to a predetermined point.

As shown in Figs. 2, 7 and 8, the shaft 26 comprises a small diameter stem portion 19 and a cylindrical portion of materially larger diameter. The leftward end of the stem 19 is rotatinternal splines 85 of the shaft I 8.

ably supported by a bearing sleeve 8| carried by the transmission case H. The front or rightward end portion of the cylindrical p 80 is :rotatably supported by bearing sleeve 8.2 supported in the opening v83 in the .front wall :member Ii. The cylindrical portion 8!) of the shaft 26 has therein spaced ball bearings =84 which rotatably support the inwardly projecting part of the impeller-supporting shaft 16 which is of hollow construction and has, near the front .end thereof, internal splines 65. The inner or leftward end of the cylindrical portion 60 of the shaft 26 has thereon an annular rib or hub through which .radial openings 61 are milled to receive planet gears 88. Shafts 89 are extended .across the openings 81, in positions parallel to the axis of the shaft 2.6, so as to carry sleeve bearings 90 which rotatably support the planet gears '88.

A ring gear 9'I is supported around and in engagement with the gears 88 by a hub member 92 which is rotatably supported on the exterior of the inwardly projecting portion of the sleeve '62, this hub 92 having an annular web 93 with a peripheral portion which extends within the ring gear 9I. The ring gear 91 comprises an alloy steel ring having internal gear teeth 94 extending from face-to-face thereof. The web '93 is held within the ring gear 9| by rings 95 which extend into space-d internal grooves 96, on opposite sides of the peripheral portion of the web 93, and the periphery of the web 93 has teeth '91 to engage portions of the teeth 94 of the ring gear 91. The hub 92 has spur gear teeth 98 thereon. To drive the tubular shaft l6 which supports the impeller II, a floating shaft 99 is provided, this shaft 99 has an end I09 which rotates a bearing 'IUI carried by the shaft member 26, and extends throughout the greater portion of its length within the tubular shaft I8, there being splines on the forward end of the shaft 99 for driving engagement with the On the inner portions of the shaft 99, adjacent the inner end of the shaft I 8,-there is a sun gear I93 having F teeth which engage the teeth of the planet gears 88.

As shown in Fig. '2, the front wallmember I 198 which receives oil from a passage I199 and discharges the same through a passage i II) to the inlet I of a :flow controlling valve H2 adapted -to restrict the outflow of oil through the discharge passage IIO of the pump I98 so that the pump I08 will react againstrotation of the ring gear 91., slowing this ring gear i9I so that the planet gears188 roll within the ring gear I9-I and thereby effect xforward .rotation of the :gear 193 which will be transmitted through the shaft 99' and the hollow shaft I18 to the impeller ill.

The pump-driving gear Hi6 is supported by a ball'bearing H 3 which is in turn supported by a hub I I 4 attached to the inner face of the wall member in a position confronting-the rotary pump I68. From the body of the gear I06 a. converging wall I15 extends to an internally splined sleeve IIS which engages the splined shaft I91 of the pump 198. The control valve I'I2 includes a needle valve or closure part .I I! supported for axial movement within the :casing of the control valve 109 a guide H8. The outer end .I I19of the needle valve I;I1I con-fronts a thrust pin J20 supported by a housing :member 121 which cooperates with a second housing member I22 to form a diaphragm chamber traversed by a diaphragm I213 which divides the diaphragm chamber into spaces i-I24 and I25. A compression spring I26 urges the needle valve "I I1 outwardly, and this outward movement of the needle valve II! is transmitted by the thrust pin 20 to the center of the diaphragm I23. The space I25 has a pressure port I21 for connection to a source of controlling fluid pressure through conduit means such as'shown rat I28, and a pressure relief valve 1219 is arranged to :connect the spaces :and 1124. The space 124 is adapted to be connected to the interior of the housing I6 through use of a conduit I30. In the control of the :operation of the variable ratio device 23, as .need for higher speed of rotation of the impeller .II is required, the fluid pressure transmitted through the port l2: to the space 125 is increased, thereby moving the diaphragm I23 Ileftwardly against the resistance of the spring I26, moving the needle valve II! leftwardly to increase the .restriction of flow of oil from the pump I98 so that the pump 198 will increase its reaction against rotation of the ring gear BI and reduce its speed so :as to thereby cause the variable speed transmission .23 to drive the impeller. II at 'an increased velocity. It will be understood that as conditions require a reduction in the speed of the impeller ;I I, a reduction in the pressure in the chamber I25 will accomplish this result.

The oil passage 199, Fig. '2, is adapted to receive oil under pressure from an oil pump I3I, Figs. 1 and 4. The oil passage I09 communicates through a passage I32 in the housing of the oil pump I08 with an oil passage I33 formed within the front wall member I5 of the housing I6. The passage I33 communicates with the oil passage 60 so that oil under pressure will be delivered to the oil chamber 59, Fig. 3, to supply oil under pressure to the variable ratio transmission v22 tozactuate and also lubricate the same. The oil passage I33 is arranged within the front member I5 so as to supply oil to the second variable speed transmission and moving parts associated therewith.

The oil pump I31, as shown in Figs. 4 and .9, is arranged internally with respect to the casing II, so that it may be driven by a gear I34 from the gear 28 which is fixed on the shaft 26 of the transmission 23. The pump I3I is .mounted on the inner face of a cover plate I35 in sideby-side relation to scavenger pump I36 which transmits oil from the interior of the housing 16 of the device to an oil reservoir I3! schematically indicated in Fig. 1.

The pump driving gear I34 is fixed on the projectin end of a shaft I38 which drives gears I39 and I43 respectively of the pumps lei and I39. The gears I39 and Me mesh respectively with gears I 4! and I42 of the pumps I3I and I36. The shaft I38, therefore, serves to drive both the pumps l3I and I36 simultaneously.

The circulation of oil in this supercharger drive is as follows: The scavenger pump I36 has an inlet I43, Fig. 9, communicating with the interior of the housing I 9, and an outlet I 14 which is connected through a duct I45 with the reservoir I31. The oil pump I 3| has an inlet passage I46 which communicates through a duct -I4I with the oil reservoir I31, and the pump I3I has an outlet I48 which is connected to a duct I49 with the inlet passage I09 of the pump I08, as schematically shown in Fig. 1. The outlet port I50 of the valve H2 is connected through an oil return duct I5I with the reservoir I31 so that the oil pumped by the reaction pump I08 will be returned to the reservoir I31. It will be understood that in the oil circulating system described in the foregoin customary adjuncts such as filtering and cooling means may be employed as indicated at I52 and I53 in Fig. 1, which means, however, do not form a part of .the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

I claim:

1. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a shaft supported for rotation, a cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said shaft, bearing means supporting said cylindrical member on said shaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said first cylindrical member, bearing means between said cylindrical members, a transmission gear on one of said cylindrical members, a transmission gear of another size on the other of said cylindrical members, and clutch means for selectively connecting said cylindrical members to said shaft.

2. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a shaft supported for rotation, a cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said shaft, bearing means supporting said cylindrical member on said shaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said first cylindrical member, bearing means between said cylindrical member, a transmission gear on one of said cylindrical members, a transmission gear of another size on the other of said cylindrical members, a one-way clutch for connecting one of said cylindrical members to said shaft, and a selectively operable clutch adapted to connect the other of said cylindrical members to said shaft.

3. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a shaft supported for rotation, a cylindrical member sur-- rounding a portion of said shaft, bearing means supporting said cylindrical member on said shaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said first cylindrical member, bearing means between said cylindrical members, a transmission gear on one of said cylindrical members, a transmission gear of another size on the other of said cylindrical members, a one-way clutch for connecting one of said cylindrical members to said shaft, a selectively operable clutch adapted to connect the other of said cylindrical members to said shaft, and means acting in response to rotation of one of the rotating parts of the trans mission to actuate said selectively operable clutch.

4. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a hollow shaft supported for rotation, said shaft having a port, a cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said shaft, bearing means supporting said cylindrical member on said shaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said first cylindrical member, bearing means between said cylindrical members, a transmission gear on one of said cylindrical members, a transmission gear of another size on the other of said cylindrical members, a one-way clutch arranged between one of said cylindrical members and said shaft, a hydraulically operated clutch surrounding said shaft and being adapted to connect the other of said cylindrical members to said shaft, said hydraulically operated clutch being connected to said port, means for feeding hydraulic fluid to said port of said shaft, and valve means in said shaft, responsive to centrifugal force when the shaft rotates, adapted to control the flow of hydraulic fluid through said port so as to control the operation of said hydraulically operated clutch.

5. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a hollow shaft supported for rotation, said shaft having a port, a first gear supported for rotation coaxially of said shaft, a hydraulically operated clutch adapted to connect said gear to said shaft, said clutch being connected to said port, a second gear supported for rotation coaxially of said shaft, a one-way clutch for connecting said second gear to said shaft, means for feeding hydraulic fluid to said hollow shaft, and valve means in said shaft, responsive to centrifugal force when the shaft rotates, adapted to control the flow of hydraulic fluid through said port so as to control said hydraulically operated clutch.

6. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmissi on, one of said transmissions comprising a hollow shaft supported for rotation, said shaft having therein a radial port, a first gear supported for rotation coaxially of said shaft, a hydraulically operated clutch adapted to connect said gear to said shaft, said clutch being connected to said port, a second gear supported for rotation coaxially of said shaft, a one-way clutch for connecting said second gear to said shaft, means for feeding hydraulic fluid to said hollow shaft, and valve means in said shaft, responsive to centrifugal force when the shaft rotates, adapted to control the flow of hydraulic fluid through said port so as to control said hydraulically operated clutch, said valve means comprising a valve body movably supported so as to confront said port and spring means holding said body in retracted relation to said port when the centrifugal force acting therein is below a prescribed value.

7. In a drive for a compressor: a support; an output member projecting from said support for connection to the compressor which is to be driven; a transmission connected to said output member so as to drive the same; and a transmission arranged to drive said first named transmission, one of said transmissions comprising a hollow shaft supported for rotation, said shaft having a port, a cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said shaft, axially spaced bearing means supporting said cylindrical member on said shaft, a second cylindrical member surrounding a portion of said first cylindrical member, bearing means between said cylindrical members, a transmission gear on one of said cylindrical members, a transmission gear on another size on the other of said cylindrical members, a one-way clutch positioned between said axially spaced bearing means and being adapted to .efiect a oneway driving connection between said shaft and said first cylindrical member, a hydraulically operated clutch surrounding said shaft and being adapted to connect the other of said cylindrical members to said shaft, said hydraulically operated clutch comprising an annular part connected 10 to said shaft adjacent said first cylindrical member, an annular part surrounding said first named annular part having connection to said second cylindrical member, cooperating clutch plates arranged between said first and second annular parts, annular cylinder-piston means between References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date MacCulloch 1. Mar. 8, 1938 Norin July 16, 1940 Edwards May 26, 1942 Daub Apr. 3, 1945 Merrill Nov. 13, 1945 Number 

